Of Princes and Knights
by Tortelliniti
Summary: (AU in which) Prince Sei has a not-so-little crush on one of his knights, Mizuki. When the troops return to the castle and he has the chance to see Mizuki again, what happens between them? Featuring sassy Aoba and Koujaku the family friend. [Mizusei with (strong) hints at Kouao - basically a smitten Koujaku]


**So I'm almost done with the main routes of DMMD and even though most of my knowledge of him comes from the fandom, Sei is one of my favorites. And of course I started shipping Mizusei pretty much immediately. That's why I present to you this Medieval-type AU in which Sei and Mizuki are both dorks who actually get to meet and fall in love. Characterization is a little different than in canon bc well... it's an AU. Anyway - enjoy~**

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**Of Princes and Knights**

Blue skies and vast green plains below the hill which the castle is built upon greet Sei's eyes as he stares absently out of his window. The sun itself seems to be suggesting to all the residents of the castle to come outside and enjoy the mild weather, but Sei is actively ignoring it. Dark eyes had fixed themselves on the horizon some fifteen minutes earlier and hadn't changed their focus since. The thing which the dark-haired royal was scanning the horizon for was nowhere in sight though.

"My prince?" comes the hesitant voice of one of his servants from outside his room after a careful knock. "Are you in your quarters?"

"Come in," calls Sei without diverting his attention from the empty landscape. The door creaks slightly as it's opened just wide enough to admit entry to the servant.

"Sire, you had asked to be notified as soon as we heard word from our men," begins the man carefully, wondering whether Sei is even listening; this question is quickly answered as the prince whips his head around to stare intently at the poor man.

"Yes?" The eagerness in his otherwise calm and pleasant voice is more than just blatantly obvious.

"W-well, my prince, it seems they are less than a day's march away at the moment. I suspect they will have returned before the sun sets." Before the servant can finish his sentence, Sei half-jumps out of his chair and walks up to him, smiling.

"Thank you," he says, reaching into one of his numerous pockets and extracting a handful of coins. "Here, for your efforts."

"Oh, I couldn't, sire-"

"No, I insist." Sei widens his smile slightly as he slips the coins into the servant's hand before leaving the room in search of his brother.

Less than ten minutes' worth of searching has Sei find Aoba in the library, talking to his best friend Koujaku over tea. The two of them are laughing about something as Sei enters the room.

"Sir-" Sei attempts to begin after a moment before being cut off by Koujaku.

"Sei, I've told you, just Koujaku is fine," he says in a light tone.

"Koujaku, then." The smile from before continues to decorate the young prince's face as he turns his head to give Aoba a meaningful nod.

"All right, what happened?" Knowing that the face Sei is making has to mean something certain, Aoba decides to just cut to the chase and ask directly. Sei obliges.

"I thought both of you might like to know that our noble knights will be returning home before sundown." The casual tone in his voice is fake enough that Aoba cracks up and Koujaku barely manages to stop himself from doing the same thing. When Sei asks them (amid pouting) what they're laughing at, Aoba gives him a teasing look.

"_All_ of us know that _you're_ the one who wanted them back so badly, and I think we all know why, too." A suggestive wink follows his words.

"I wouldn't know what you're talking about," lies Sei, blushing slightly as he averts his eyes, unable to make his grin fade.

Later, when the sun is far lower down in the western sky, the dark-haired prince finds himself pacing about in his room restlessly. There haven't been any other messages from the brigade. With a sigh, Sei plops down into the chair he's placed by the window and returns to scanning the horizon. He's a little tired - waking up early to stare out of a window with a pretty much unchanging view doesn't exactly energize anyone, especially not someone whose health already tends to be frail. Aoba will sometimes remind his brother to be careful about pushing himself too hard, to which Sei always replies that he'll be just fine and that Aoba shouldn't worry at all. Not that it matters; the younger of the two will never forget the times when it gets to the point where Sei will either stay in bed, or simply collapse after refusing to do so for too long. A strand or two of dark hair fall from their place behind Sei's ear as he recalls the last time his health had left him in a state like that, and the worried expression Aoba would-

Sei's train of thought metaphorically crashes as he spots what looks to be his troops returning home. For a moment or two he strains his eyes, making sure he's not mistaken. He isn't. Adjusting his hat in the mirror and tucking the stray hair back behind his ear, Sei takes a deep breath to calm himself before heading for the door. There's a sort of jittery feeling in his stomach as he walks down the hallway. He makes himself walk rather than run, knowing that if he paces himself now, the troop will be within the castle's walls before he reaches the spot where they are always dismissed. His heart beats in his throat.

Warm afternoon light greets Sei as he steps into one of the courtyards of the castle. Sure enough, the general is just giving his final remarks; moments later, he sends his soldiers on their way. Sei hides behind a column at the side of the courtyard to avoid the awkwardness of having to be bowed to by each of the people he comes across (it's something he's never been fond of). He looks from one man to the next, searching.

"Are you looking for someone, my prince?" asks a very familiar voice from behind him.

"Mizuki!" exclaims Sei as he turns around, smiling in relief when he comes face to face with his favorite soldier. He can feel the tears threatening to show in his eyes as he looks into Mizuki's. "You're finally back... I thought that expedition would never end."

"It's been far too long, for sure," agrees the taller, taking one of Sei's pale hands into his own and giving him a little grin that says he's going to kiss it. Sei rolls his eyes (but fails to suppress his smile). Mizuki knows full well that the prince isn't overly fond of the gesture; too many strange people have introduced themselves to him that way simply for his status.

"Don't be like that," Sei scolds half-heartedly, still too interested in looking at Mizuki to even care about any of the usual rules or formalities which should apply.

"I would say the same to you, but you could have my head for that." Mizuki laughs as he says it, but it really is true, sadly.

"What would I want with your head?" And Sei laughs a little as well, but the atmosphere is already changing from that of a relieved reunion to something a little less... Light. He reaches up and brushes Mizuki's hair out of his face.

"I'm not sure," begins Mizuki slowly, as if he's not sure whether he should even say the rest of what he's thinking. "But I think you can find a use for my heart."

And with that, he leans forward and kisses a wide-eyed Sei.

It's sweet and gentle, as if they both think the other will pull away any moment and are scared of causing that reaction. Mizuki carefully cups Sei's cheek in his hand. Sei responds by placing his hands on Mizuki's chest and leaning in a little closer. Both are reluctant to end things; when Mizuki finally does pull away, it's to find Sei's eyes remaining closed for a few extra seconds. (He finds this incredibly cute.)

"... Wow," breathes Mizuki, looking at Sei in a way that communicates how much he enjoyed the kiss. "That was... Wow."

"If you mean your pickup line, I have to disagree." This takes a second to register with Mizuki.

"Are you kidding me? You - a _prince_ \- just _kissed_ one of your _soldiers_ and you're worried about how I confessed to you? I can't believe you," adds Mizuki, shaking his head and laughing (halfway against his will).

"Well, when you put it like that..." Sei smiles, blushing as he looks at the ground. In truth, he's more than aware of the gravity of what he and Mizuki just did, but he can't bring himself to regret it even a little. Kissing Mizuki for the first time felt like the relief of cooling a burn under cold water, like the thrill of sneaking past the castle's guards in the middle of the night, and like the rush of a sudden downpour of rain - all at once. Just thinking about it makes Sei's head spin.

"Sei? Are you listening?" Mizuki's voice cuts through Sei's thoughts all of a sudden.

"Hmm?" With a (very cute, in Mizuki's opinion) head tilt, Sei gives the other an inquisitive look.

"I was just wondering if that was... All right with you. You know, me doing that without asking and all." The uncertainty in Mizuki's voice stands out to Sei.

"It was," he states simply.

"Good, because I'm about to do it again."

Aoba pushes Koujaku back around the corner they've just walked around by the shoulders and covers his mouth with a hand so that all Koujaku can do is make a sort of confused sound.

"Shh," hisses the younger, putting his index finger to his lips to gesture to Koujaku to keep quiet. Koujaku nods and Aoba slowly removes his hand.

"What happened?" asks Koujaku in a whisper.

"My brother and that soldier he really likes are having a moment, let's take a different route to the kitchens."

"Right." Koujaku follows his best friend the long way around, internally sighing at the fact that while Aoba is completely capable of accurately reading the signs when someone is romantically interested in someone else, he is completely _oblivious_ when it comes to himself. He's not about to voice this thought though, so the two of them walk in silence until they finally reach the kitchens. At this point, Aoba stops walking to turn around and say something about... something, but Koujaku isn't listening. _How can I pay attention when he's looking at me so intently with those beautiful eyes of his?_, wonders Koujaku as he barely stops himself from blurting the thought out.

"Koujaku, did you hear a word I just said?" asks an irritated Aoba.

"Not really, sorry," he replies awkwardly, giving Aoba an apologetic look. Aoba sighs. "You talk too much," Koujaku wants to say, and he'd lean in and silence his friend with a soft kiss and Aoba would be shocked at first but return it moments later and they would both know that the other loves them and-

"Fine, then I _won't_ tell you about Sei and his love affair," the male in question huffs, turning around and heading through the door into the main kitchen room.

"Aoba, wait!" Koujaku shakes his head to clear his thoughts before following his friend. _I guess some dreams can't come true right away_, he thinks to himself, _even though "right away" doesn't really apply here anymore_.

Sei and Mizuki end what must be their fifth kiss a little too soon because they're both out of breath.

"You know what I find really weird?" Mizuki starts, breathing a little hard as he locks eyes with Sei.

"Tell me," the shorter replies, equally breathless.

"Up until not even a full hour ago, I didn't even know you felt the same way about me as I do about you."

"... Now that you mention it, yeah." Sei frowns just a little; the thought seems strange now, though they haven't even been reunited for very long.

"It's something I've felt for a while now, by the way," adds Mizuki, gently rubbing Sei's cheek with his thumb. Sei's face colors.

"M-me too. Quite a while." He's embarrassed to admit it so openly, but it feels like this is his chance to let Mizuki know that all the kisses aren't something spontaneous, but something the two of them have been building up to for a long time. ... And that Mizuki can't turn this into a one-time thing.

"We aren't going to get anywhere if neither of us says it openly, so... I love you, Sei." It takes all of three seconds for Sei to lose his balance and half-fall into Mizuki's arms.

"Sei?!"

"I'm fine, this is just a lot all at once and I-" _I don't have the best of conditions and you make my heart beat way too fast and you take my breath away, and that makes me lightheaded, and you're perfect, and-_ "...and I love you too, Mizuki."

"You do?" Mizuki half-whispers in what he realizes seconds later is a stupid voice; obviously Sei does, otherwise this wouldn't be happening. "I mean, of course you do, I'm not saying you would kiss just anyone, I'm just shocked that it's me, and-"

"I do," affirms Sei, putting a finger to Mizuki's lips to make him stop talking. They stay like that for a few seconds before Sei lets Mizuki speak again.

"So... Shall I escort you to your quarters?" proposes Mizuki in an excessively dramatic voice once he's made sure Sei can stand steadily on his own two feet again. Sei rolls his eyes again.

"If you want to."

"I think it's more of a question of whether you... _want_ to, if you know what I mean." The suggestive wink Mizuki throws in earns him a dark blush from Sei - and an unexpected response.

"O-okay." Sei is looking at the ground, but raises his head to look at Mizuki. "I trust you."

"Sei, I was kidding! I mean, we only just- isn't it a little early for all that?" stutters Mizuki, lost for words.

"Oh! Right... Right, yes." If Mizuki isn't hallucinating, Sei almost sounds a little disappointed.

"Unless you want to, that is," Mizuki adds quietly. Sei just smiles mysteriously, not giving him a clear yes or no. They take a roundabout way back to Sei's room so they won't be seen holding hands.

Later, when Mizuki's made sure that Sei will get some rest to improve his condition, he stands outside the prince's door for a few minutes, smiling stupidly to himself. _He actually loves me too, I can't believe this_, thinks the soldier, letting the memories replay in his head. _Sei actually loves _me. _And if I'm not completely mistaken, he even implied he wants to do more than just kiss me...? I guess dreams really do come true sometimes, no matter how corny that sounds._

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**Well aren't you the lucky one, Mizu~ Hope you enjoyed the story. Reviews are love - flames or hate will be reported though, no exceptions.**

**-whispers- _of course I threw in KouAo, I'm KouAo trash._**


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